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{{Short description|Two different kinds of chord, one in classical music and one in popular music}}
The term '''''sixth chord''''' refers to two different kinds of [[Chord (music)|chord]], one in [[classical music]] and the other in modern [[popular music]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/musicthelistener008986mbp/musicthelistener008986mbp_djvu.txt ''Music: The Listener's Art''], p. 113</ref><ref>Keith Wyatt and Carl Schroeder (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=n9hjNpuVdUAC&dq=%22called+a+sixth+chord&pg=PA82 ''Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians''], p. 82. {{ISBN|0-7935-7991-0}}.</ref>

The original meaning of the term is a ''chord in [[first inversion]]'', in other words with its [[third (chord)|third]] in the [[bass note|bass]] and its [[root (chord)|root]] a [[Interval (music)|sixth]] above it. This is how the term is still used in classical music today, and in this sense it is called also a '''chord of the sixth'''.<ref>Piston, Walter (1987). ''Harmony'', p. 66. {{ISBN|0-393-95480-3}}.</ref>

In modern popular music, a sixth chord is any [[triad (music)|triad]] with an added sixth above the root as a [[Factor (chord)|chord factor]].<ref>Miller, Michael (2005). ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory'', p. 119. {{ISBN|978-1-59257-437-7}}.</ref> This was traditionally (and in classical music is still today) called an ''[[Added tone chord|added sixth chord]]'' or ''triad with added sixth''<ref>Piston, p. 359</ref> since [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]] (''sixte ajoutée'') in the 18th century. It is not common to designate [[Inverted chord|chord inversions]] in popular music, so there is no need for a term designating the first inversion of a chord, and so the term ''sixth chord'' in popular music is a short way of saying ''added sixth chord''. There are three main types of added sixth chords: major sixth, minor sixth and minor flat sixth.

== Triad inversion ==
{{See also|First inversion}}
In early music, what is today called a ''sixth chord'' or ''first inversion'' in classical music was considered an autonomous harmonic entity with the root named by the bass, while it was later simply considered an inversion of a chord with the bass being the third (not the root) and the root being the sixth (not the bass). A first-inversion C major chord is shown below.

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        <e g c>1
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Alternatively, rather than as a [[six three chord]], the note may be analyzed as a [[Nonchord tone#Suspension|suspension]] or [[Nonchord tone#Appoggiatura|appoggiatura]], "first [[resolution (music)|resolved]] and later... retained as a part of the chord, no resolution taking place."<ref>Miller, Horace Alden (1930). ''New Harmonic Devices'', p. 51.</ref>

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    \new Staff <<
    \new Voice \relative c'' {
        \time 4/4
        \voiceOne a2( g)
    }
    \new Voice \relative c' {
        \time 4/4
        \voiceTwo <c e>1 <c e g a>
    }
>>
}
</score>}}

The dominant chord's fifth may be substituted by the chord's sixth, analyzed as its thirteenth:<ref>Miller (1930), p. 52.</ref>

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    \relative c' {
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== Added sixth chords ==
In [[jazz chord|jazz]], what is called a ''sixth chord'' was traditionally called an "[[added tone chord|added sixth chord]]". As the name suggests, this is a triad with an added sixth interval. 

=== Major sixth ===
The major sixth chord is a [[major triad]] and the additional sixth interval is [[Major sixth|major]]. For example, a major sixth chord built on C (denoted by C<sup>6</sup>, or CM<sup>6</sup>) consists of the notes C, E, G, and the added major sixth A.

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These are the same notes as those of an A [[minor seventh chord]] – whether such a chord should be regarded as an added sixth chord or a seventh depends on its context and harmonic function. To explain the analyses as added sixth chords, against [[common practice period]] theory,<ref>Cope (1997). ''Techniques of the Contemporary Composer'', p.40-41. New York, New York: Schirmer Books. {{ISBN|0-02-864737-8}}.</ref> provides the example of the final [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] chord of some popular music being traditionally analyzable as a "[[submediant]] [[First inversion|six-five chord]]" (added sixth chords by popular terminology), or a [[first inversion]] seventh chord (possibly the dominant of the supertonic V/ii). According to the [[Interval (music)#Consonant and dissonant|interval strengths]] of the added sixth chord, the [[Root (chord)|root]] of the strongest interval of the chord in first inversion (CEGA), the perfect fifth (C–G), is the root (C).

=== Minor sixth ===
The minor sixth chord (sometimes: ''minor major sixth'', or ''minor/major sixth'') consists of a [[minor triad]] with a tone added a [[major sixth]] above the root. Thus in C, it contains the notes C, E{{music|flat}}, G, and A.

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This chord might be notated Cm<sup>6</sup>, Cm<sup>M6</sup>, Cmin/maj<sup>6</sup>, Cmin<sup>(maj6)</sup>, etc. Note that Cm<sup>6</sup> has the same notes as F<sup>9</sup> with the root omitted, i.e. the notes F (omitted), A, E{{music|flat}}, C, and G. These notes form a [[tetrad (music)|tetrad]] with several [[enharmonic]] equivalents: C–E{{music|flat}}–G–A might be written as Cm<sup>6</sup>, F<sup>9</sup>, F<sup>9</sup> (no root), Am<sup>7{{music|flat}}5</sup>, B<sup>7{{music|flat}}9</sup>, A{{music|flat}}<sup>Maj7{{music|flat}}9</sup>, or B<sup>alt</sup>. Many jazz chord charts use these chord notations indiscriminately, particularly in the choice of minor sixth versus [[dominant ninth chord]]s. Thus, in some cases when a Cm<sup>6</sup> is indicated, the F<sup>9</sup> is in fact a better harmonic choice, i.e. closer to the composer's harmonic intent; or vice versa. Analysis of the movement of the root, in the presence of [[Dominant function|dominant-functioning]] harmonies, will generally indicate which [[enharmonic]] chord is the appropriate notation choice. In some cases, the harmony is ambiguous.

[[File:Symmetrical otonal utonal chords.svg|thumb|center|300px|Just like the minor is to the major, the minor sixth can be considered to be similarly related to the dominant seventh.]]

Unlike the major sixth chord which is often substituted for a major triad, the minor sixth is more versatile and plays a number of different harmonic roles due to its identity as an [[root position|inversion]] of the [[half-diminished seventh chord]]. The presence of the perfect fifth interval over the root also means that this voicing is more stable than the half-diminished seventh chord. An extension of the concepts of major and minor to tetrads, referred to as [[otonality and utonality]] respectively, considers this chord to be the utonality to the [[dominant seventh chord]].

=== Minor flat sixth ===
The minor flat sixth chord is a [[minor triad]] and the additional sixth interval is [[Minor sixth|minor]], which is referred to as a flat sixth. Thus in C, it contains the notes C, E{{music|flat}}, G, and A{{music|flat}}.

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    \relative c' {
        \time 4/4
        <c es g as>1
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This chord might be notated Cm<sup>{{music|flat}}6</sup>. It also shares identity as an [[root position|inversion]] of the [[major seventh chord]].

==In popular music==

Instances of the sixth chord crop up in popular music towards the end of the 19th century, for example in [[Johann Strauss II]]’s "[[The Blue Danube]]" waltz.<ref>Van der Merwe, P. (1989, p.231) ''The Popular Style; the Antecedents of Twentieth Century Popular Music''. Oxford University Press.</ref> [[Richard Taruskin]] sees Strauss’s use of the added sixth chord as the “one stylistic idiosyncrasy… that went from him into the general idiom of European (or European-style) music, and that is the freedom with which the sixth degree of the scale is harmonized.” <ref> Taruskin, R. (2010, p. 649) ''The Oxford History of Western Music, Volume 3, The Nineteenth Century''.  Oxford University Press. </ref>[[File:Strauss Blue Danube.wav|thumb|Johann Strauss II, the Blue Danube Waltz]][[File:Strauss Blue Danube.png|thumb|center|500px|Strauss Blue Danube]] 
The sixth chord was a common feature of the harmony of jazz and popular music during the entire twentieth century.  One of the attractions of the chord is its tonal ambiguity.  The harmony contains within it aspects that are both major and minor.  [[Kurt Weill]]’s song "[[Mack the Knife]]" from the ''[[The Threepenny Opera|Threepenny Opera]]'' (1928) uses the chord from the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QXJ3OXWaOY start], resulting in "a sort of bitonality: A minor in the melody, C major in the harmony."<ref>Van der Merwe, P. (1989, p.232) ''The Popular Style; the Antecedents of Twentieth Century Popular Music''. Oxford University Press.</ref>

The trombone [[ostinato|riff]] that opens [[Glenn Miller]]’s "[[Tuxedo Junction]]" (1940) is a well-known example from the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqZ9YHrpyTU Swing era].<ref>Schuller, G. (1989, p.674) ''The Swing Era: The development of Jazz 1930-1945''.  Oxford University Press</ref> Later popular songs that feature sixth chords include: [[The Beatles]]' "[[She Loves You]]" (1963),<ref>Mellers, W. (1973, p.33). ''Twilight of the Gods: the Beatles in Retrospect.'' London, Faber</ref><ref>Brown, C. (2020, p.122) ''One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time''. London, 4th Estate.</ref> "[[Help! (song)|Help!]]" (1965) <ref>Fujita, T., Hagino, Y., Kubo, H. and Sato, G. (1989, p.376) ''The Beatles Complete Scores.''  Milwaukee, Hal Leonard</ref> and "[[The Fool on the Hill]]" (1967),<ref>Fujita, T., Hagino, Y., Kubo, H. and Sato, G. (1989, p.282) ''The Beatles Complete Scores.''  Milwaukee, Hal Leonard</ref> [[Arthur Kent (songwriter)|Arthur Kent]] and [[Sylvia Dee]]'s "[[Bring Me Sunshine]]" (1968),<ref>Derek B. Scott, Sounds of the metropolis: the nineteenth-century popular music revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna, Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 0-19-530946-4, ISBN 978-0-19-530946-1, 304 pages (page 7)</ref> [[The Young Rascals]]' "[[Groovin']]" (1967), [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s "[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]" (1975),<ref>{{cite web| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/J_cw_DBGSz8| archive-date = 2021-12-05| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_cw_DBGSz8| title = Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody with score | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Steely Dan]]'s "[[Bad Sneakers]]" (1975) and [[Styx (band)|Styx]]'s "[[Babe (Styx song)|Babe]]" (1979).

The minor flat sixth chord is arpeggiated in the first chord of the dungeon music from the first [[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|Legend of Zelda]] game.

==In classical music==
An unusual use of this chord at the start of a work occurs in [[Beethoven]]’s [[Piano Sonata No. 18 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata in E{{music|flat}} major, Op 31 No. 3]] (1802):[[File:Beethoven Sonata in E flat Op 31 No 3 opening.wav|thumb|Beethoven Sonata in E{{music|flat}}, Op 31 No 3 opening]][[File:Beethoven Sonata in E flat Op 31 No 3 opening.png|thumb|center|500px|Beethoven Sonata in E{{music|flat}}, Op 31 No 3 opening]]
According to [[Denis Matthews]], "the most striking moment in the sonata is its opening, where an ambiguous added-sixth chord on the [[subdominant]] resolves itself through a series of halting steps, rhythmically and harmonically, towards the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]]."<ref>Matthews, Denis. (1967, p.31) ''Beethoven Piano Sonatas''. London, BBC.</ref>

In the opening section of his Fantasy-Overture, ''[[Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)|Romeo and Juliet]]'', [[Tchaikovsky]] uses the minor added sixth chord to striking effect:[[File:Tchaikowsky Romeo & Juliet bars 28-33.wav|thumb|Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet bars 28-33]][[File:Tchaikowsky Romeo & Juliet bars 28-33 transposed.png|thumb|center|500px|Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet bars 28-33]]

[[Debussy]] frequently used the sixth chord, for example in his piano [[Préludes (Debussy)|prelude]] ''General Lavine-Eccentric'' (1913), whose idiom alludes to the popular idioms of [[cakewalk]] and [[ragtime]] of the early 1900s.  The following passage "is in F major; its seeming [[Pentatonic scale|pentatonicism]] (C–D–F–G–A) is found to be the outline of the tonic added sixth chord, plus the G as passing tone…"<ref>Schmitz, E.R. (1950, p. 74)  ''The Piano Works of Claude Debussy''. New York, Dover.</ref>[[File:General Lavine.wav|thumb|Debussy, from 'General Lavine - eccentric']][[File:General Lavine.png|thumb|center|500px|Debussy, from 'General Lavine - eccentric']]

[[Maurice Ravel]]’s 1920 ballet ''[[La Valse]]'', which contains subtle echoes of the late 19th century [[Viennese Waltz]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Benjamin|first1=George|author-link=George Benjamin (composer)|year=1992|title=Last Dance|journal=[[The Musical Times]]|volume=135|issue=1817|pages=432–435|doi=10.2307/1003252|jstor=1003252}}</ref> incorporates added sixth chords in its harmony:[[File:From Ravel, La Valse 01.wav|thumb|From Ravel, La Valse]][[File:From Ravel, La Valse 02.png|thumb|center|500px|From Ravel, La Valse]]

The timeless, meditative closing bars of [[Gustav Mahler]]’s song "Abschied" from ''[[Das Lied von der Erde]]'' (1909) fully exploit the expressive power and ambiguity of the sixth chord.  "The final sonority, the famous added-sixth chord, is particularly ingenious... because it fuses the two principal keys of ''Das Lied'' (A minor and C major)."<ref>Deruchie, A. (2009, p. 97) "Mahler’s farewell or The Earth’s Song? Death, Orientalism and Mahler’s ‘Der Abschied’", ''Austrian Studies'', Vol. 17, Words and Music, pp. 75-97.</ref>[[File:Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, final chord.wav|thumb|Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, final chord]][[File:Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, final chord.png|thumb|center|500px|Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, final chord]]

[[Alban Berg]]’s [[Violin Concerto (Berg)|Violin Concerto]] (1935) ends with a "tonic triad of B flat, with added [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd0dMs0MTg8&t=27m42s sixth]  [that] follows a harmonic progression found frequently in 1930s dance-band arrangements."<ref>Pople, A. (1991, p.60) ''Berg Violin Concerto'', Cambridge University Press.</ref> However, Richard Taruskin points out that Berg's "chord thus created, B flat, D, F, G had an important poetic resonance", as it echoes the ending of Mahler's "Abschied."<ref>Taruskin, R. (2010, p717)  ''The Oxford History of Western Music: Music in the Early Twentieth Century.''  Oxford University Press.</ref> [[Stravinsky]]’s ''[[Symphony in Three Movements]]'' (1945) "incorporates elements of American popular music, most famously the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB-NzpYwC3Y&t=22m20s final chord], a Hollywood added-sixth chord of ever there was one."<ref>Cross, J. (2015, p. 144) ''Igor Stravinsky''.  London, Reaktion Books.</ref> (Stravinsky himself later criticized his choice of the final D{{music|flat}} sixth chord as ‘commercial.’ <ref>Stravinsky I., and Craft, R. (1968, p.51) ''Dialogues and a Diary''.  London, Faber.</ref>) [[Messiaen]]’s "Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus", the final movement of his ''[[Quartet for the End of Time]]'' (1941) opens with a meditative theme "played entirely over a [[64 chord|6-4 chord]] with [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVdAGDY66eQ added sixth]" <ref>Griffiths, P. (1985, p.103) ''Olivier Messiaen and the Music of Time''.  London, Faber.</ref>

==Special kinds of sixth chords==
The ''[[Neapolitan chord|Neapolitan sixth]]'' is the first inversion of a major triad built on the flattened supertonic (second degree of the scale) – a Neapolitan sixth in C major, therefore, consists of the notes F, A{{music|flat}}, and D{{music|flat}}.

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{
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        <f aes des>1 <g b> <e g c>
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There are a number of [[augmented sixth chord|''augmented sixth'' chords]]. Each of them has a major third and augmented sixth above the bass. When these are the only three notes present, the chord is an ''Italian sixth''; when an augmented fourth is added above the bass, the chord is a ''French sixth''; while adding a perfect fifth above the bass of an Italian sixth makes it a ''German sixth'' (the etymology of all these names is unclear). All usually have the {{music|flat}}{{music|scale|6}} (sixth degree of the scale, A{{music|flat}} in C major, for example) as the bass note – in this case, they tend to resolve to the dominant.

 	 {{block indent|<score sound="1">
    {
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      \new PianoStaff <<
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c' {
                \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
                \textLengthOn
                <c fis>1^\markup { "Italian" }
                <d fis>^\markup { "French" }
                <es fis>^\markup { "German" }
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c' {
                \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
                <aes c>1 \bar "||"
                <aes c> \bar "||"
                <aes c> \bar "||"
                }
            >>
    >> }
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==Sixth factor==
The sixth [[factor (chord)|factor]] of a [[chord (music)|chord]] is six [[scale degrees]] above the [[root (chord)|root]]. Conventionally, the sixth is third in importance to the root, [[fifth (chord)|fifth]], and third, being an [[added tone]]. It is generally not allowed as the root since that inversion resembles a seventh chord on the sixth rather than an added tone on the original note. In [[jazz chord]]s and theory, the sixth is required due to it being an added tone.

The [[major and minor|quality]] of the sixth may be determined by the scale or may be indicated. For example, in a major scale, a diatonic sixth added to the tonic chord will be major (C–E–G–A) while in minor it will be minor (C–E{{music|b}}–G–A{{music|b}}).

The sixth is [[Octave equivalence|octave equivalent]] to the [[thirteenth]]. If one could cut out the notes in between the fifth and the thirteenth and then drop the thirteenth down an octave to a sixth, one would have an added sixth chord (C–E–G–B{{music|flat}}–D′–F′–A′ minus B{{music|flat}}–D′–F′ = C–E–G–A).

==See also==
*[[6/9 chord]]
*[[thirteenth chord]]

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Sixth chords}}

{{Chords}}

[[Category:Chord factors]]
[[Category:Chords]]
[[Category:Chromaticism]]